1. Field
Embodiments of the present invention are concerned with management of a communication network, such as a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) network. More particularly, embodiments of the present invention are directed to a Graphical User Interface (GUI) and methods that enables a system manager to initialize, based on predicted link utilization, a plurality of routers and media aggregation managers existing on a selected communication path. The initialization provides the media aggregation managers with reservation protocol session parameters and bandwidth allocation requirements for a predetermined schedule of usage over the communication network.
2. Description of the Related Art
Current network management tools such as Hewlett Packard's Open View and AdventNet, have typically been used by System Administrators for detecting and analyzing faults that occur within a network. The programs generally discover a network and each node or router on the network submits to the administrator if and where faults exist in the network so that the System Administrator can address the problematic faults. The System administrator can select an individual router and provision the router through the Open View and AdventNet GUI. When provisioning a router, the existing tools utilize a standard protocol such as Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) or a command line interface (CLI). The standard protocol is typically communicated to the provisioning tool like Open View or AdventNet by the router during the network discovery so that the protocol utilized for provisioning the router is hidden from the user. Provisioning a router includes router control parameters such as assigning an IP address to a router or assigning bandwidth for certain types of communications through the router.
One of the problems with the existing network management tools is that they do not provide for administration of VoIP networks. Another disadvantage of the current tools is that they do not allow a user to initialize multiple routers along a selected path through a communication network.